In the vast majority of office environments, employees are allocated a computer to use as a workstation. This workstation is typically used for a period of 3-5 years, and then refreshed due to a number of factors such as:    1. Depreciation of the workstation. Computers typically depreciate their total value over a period of three years, meaning that a refresh cycle is usually no shorter than three years.    2. Advances in technology leading to cost savings. Newer technology may be introduced which can offer the company cost savings over currently deployed systems, with features such as enhanced power efficiency.    3. Lack of support for older systems. Old hardware and software typically requires increased support costs over time. This can be a driver for the replacement of older systems with new systems that are cheaper to support.    4. Damage to the workstation. As a workstation is used, the condition degrades over time. This can eventually make the machine likely to fail, or no longer fit for purpose.
Points 1, 2 and 3 are typically mitigated by companies by employing a strategy of issuing a hardware refresh every set number of years, typically between 3 and 5. The length of time may be manually altered based on strategic choices; for example, if a particular operating system is going out of support soon, the hardware refresh might be accelerated to take this into account.
Point 4 is much more difficult to mitigate using a broad stroke approach. It is difficult for an organization to quantify the effect of wear and tear, and put definite metrics against loss of productivity due to the machine being less fit for purpose.
A typical example of the user losing productivity due to an old workstation would be if the workstation were no longer quick enough to run the most recent version of the standard email client in a satisfactory manner. The email program could take two minutes to load in the morning instead of 30 seconds. This would likely result in the worker going for a five minute coffee break, which results in that time being lost on a regular basis.
A hardware refresh can be costly to a business. It is not only the cost of the new workstations, but the cost of disposal of the old workstations, loss of productivity during workstation migration, and environmental impact if the refresh is carried out more often than necessary